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March Madness 2014: 10 observations from Thursday's late games

NCAA N Dakota St Oklahoma Basketball

Players on the North Dakota State bench stand and cheer as their team takes the lead against Oklahoma in overtime during a second-round game of the NCAA men's college basketball tournament in Spokane, Wash., Thursday, March 20, 2014. North Dakota State won 80-75 in overtime. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Thursday's late NCAA tournament games produced plenty of action. Here are 10 things that stood out while watching the final eight games of the day:

1. That's a lot of extra play

Thursday marked the first time in NCAA history that four overtime games were played in a single day. Overall, five of the first 20 games in the tournament -- a full 25 percent -- have gone to an extra session. If that start is any indication, it's going to be a year for the books.

The reigning A-10 co-Rookie of the Year from Saint Joseph's is good, sure. He's got some sweet moves inside the paint and is developing a nice 3-point stroke. But better yet is that afro. Looking like a real life version of that dude from NBA Street, Bembry gave the college basketball world reason for awe during Thursday night's OT loss to UConn. That he dropped 16 points and did a decent job containing Shabazz Napier was just a bonus.

3. Wolverines took care of business

Amidst all the upsets and near-upsets of the day, a game like the 57-40 drubbing Michigan gave to Wofford on Thursday night probably won't get noticed much. It's too bad, because the Wolverines did everything they were supposed to do and, in the process, looked like a team capable of a nice tourney run. Sure, 57 points is a lot lower than their season average of 75 per game. But they shot 48 percent from the field, 41 from beyond the arc, and never really gave an inexperienced Wofford team a chance. With so many great games grabbing all the headlines, Michigan deserves praise for giving us a dominant, albeit businesslike, showing.

4. What is it about the No. 12 seed?

No. 12 seed North Dakota State -- a team whose only other NCAA tournament appearance was a first round exit in 2009-- shocked No. 5 seed Oklahoma late Thursday night, beating them 80-75 in overtime. That came after Harvard, also a No. 12 seed, upset 5-seeded Cincinnati earlier in the day. More than the wins, what's really surprising is how totally un-surprising these wins should be. Looking back over NCAA history, it's happened 43 times already. Last year alone, No. 12 seeds won 75 percent of their matchups against No. 5s. In fact, a No. 12 seed has knocked off a No. 5 seed in all but three of the last 29 years. A 2011 Sports Illustratedstory by Andy Staples explored why exactly that is, and determined that No. 12 seeds are usually either decent teams that play in a tough conference or very good teams that get no seeding love because they play in a bad conference. Playing in the Summit League, North Dakota State certainly fits into that latter category. Maybe it's time we stop putting so much weight on seeding.

5. Wow, N.C. State really stinks at foul shots

I mean, like, really stinks. Holding a 59-45 lead with about five minutes left in Thursday's loss to Saint Louis, N.C. State went on to shoot a combined 12-of-21 from the foul line, to go along with three turnovers and overall sloppy defense. Give Saint Louis props for recognizing their opponent's ineptitude from the foul line with plenty of time on the clock and taking advantage of it. It likely won them the game. (In fairness, Saint Louis was equally bad from the line, going 12-for-26.)

Manhattan was on the verge of pulling off one of the most unlikely upsets in NCAA history. Then Luke Hancock happened. As he's done his entire career with the Cardinals, Hancock came through in the clutch, hitting a pair of huge 3-pointers in the game's final minutes to lift Louisville to a 71-64 victory. As evidenced in last year's furious first half rally against Michigan in the title game, Hancock is simply one of the most clutch shooters out there. Just like "Big Shot Rob."

7. Give Manhattan credit

No, they didn't win, but give Manhattan coach Steve Masiello a ton of a credit for taking the defending champs to the brink. Louisville is clearly the better team, but Masiello drew up a defensive scheme that gave the Cardinals fits, particularly from beyond the arc, where Louisville was just 6-of-16 shooting. And, most impressively, Massiello did it against his former boss and mentor, Rick Pitino. If there's such a thing as a moral victory in the NCAA tournament, this was it.

8. Thanks for playing

At least 95 percent of tourney brackets missed a game before Thursday afternoon. That number probably went up more after the upset-heavy batch of night games. May as well kiss Warren Buffett's billion goodbye.

9. A taste of mortality

Villanova shook off a slow first half to beat Milwaukee 73-53. But the real story here is the Wildcats' rough night from the 3-point line, where they shot just 17 percent. Villanova shoots a dangerous number of threes per game -- nearly half of their shots -- and on Thursday they saw how difficult it can be to win when those long-range shots aren't dropping. Nova may not be able to survive the same performance against a better team.

10.'Draft Day'looks awful

If, like me, you tuned in to multiple games on Thursday night, you probably saw previews for the new movie 'Draft Day' at least 88 times, by my unofficial count. And wow, this one looks awful. Starring Kevin Costner as a fictional Cleveland Browns GM who attempts to somehow land the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, the movie comes off as a cross between 'Moneyball,' 'The Blind Side,' 'Any Given Sunday,' and any other movie that involves rich sports executives who utilize their underlying passion for the game to inspire organizational change. Draft Day is due for release on April 11th. As it happens, Rio 2 comes out that same day. Sign me up for the CGI animation, please.